3,061 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,061 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,274 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.5% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 19,068 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,971 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 23,777 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,660,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:DGX opened at $216.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $216.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $196.97 and a 200 day moving average of $193.57.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 38.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.